NJ's Gender Wage Gap Is Wider Than National Average: Report

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey's gender wage gap is greater than the national average, according to new research from MoneyGeek. And when it comes to states with similar political leanings, the Garden State fares worse.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade leaked — and the court overturning the constitutional right to an abortion June 24 — Gov. Phil Murphy has touted New Jersey as a safe haven for women's rights and people seeking abortions. Murphy has urged companies publicly and privately to relocate from states slashing reproductive rights and into the Garden State.

But New Jersey falls short on a key gender issue, according to MoneyGeek. The average women's income is 80.2 percent of their male counterparts, creating an annual pay difference of $14,181. Nationally, women's earnings totaled 82.4 percent of men's in the second quarter this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

MoneyGeek found the wage gap greater in Republican states, where women make 79.9 percent of men's earnings, compared to Democratic states (83.2 percent). Fourteen of the 15 worst states for gender wage gaps are Republican-leaning and have restricted or prohibited abortion access.

When it comes to states with similar political leanings, which MoneyGeek says play a factor in gender wage gaps, New Jersey falls below most. Out of 19 states that lean blue, New Jersey has the fifth-widest wage gap — tied with Connecticut (80.2 percent) and beating only Rhode Island (80.1 percent), Washington (79.7 percent), Hawaii (78.9 percent) and New Hampshire (78.6 percent).

Out of the states which have recently expanded access to abortions, New Jersey's wage gap ranks third-worst behind only Washington and Hawaii. New York, meanwhile, has the nation's second-smallest gender wage gap — women made 88.4 percent of men's earnings, with an annual pay difference of $7,388.

Changes in states' abortion policies, however, could result in a 6.5 percent decrease in women's average pay nationally, according to MoneyGeek. That would lower women's income to 74 percent of what men make, putting women's pay back two decades. MoneyGeek cites several reports, including a study from BMC Women's Health that found women denied an abortion are less likely to have one-year plans related to education, employment or change in residence than women able to access the procedure. Research from Ohio State University found these factors disproportionately impact women of color — particularly Black women.

Related articles:

• NJ Wage Gap: Women Earn 20% Less Than Men
• Abortion Protections For Out-Of-Staters Become NJ Law
• Gov. Murphy To Texas Companies: Come To NJ, Where Abortion Is Legal
• NJ Abortions Now Protected By Law; Activists Seek Accessibility

"The loosening of restrictions on access to birth control and abortion care in the 1960s and ‘70s was what allowed women to enter the workforce in large numbers in the first place," said Melissa Williams, associate professor of organization and management at Emory University. "When women face unwanted pregnancies, they are likely to fail to complete their educations, to delay their entry into the workforce and to have fewer hours available for paid work. Without the ability to decide when or whether to have a child, women cannot have the same educational and economic opportunities as men."

New Jersey codified the right to an abortion in January — albeit through a law that some reproductive-rights activists say doesn't go far enough. The state also passed laws July 1 that strengthen protections for out-of-staters seeking abortions in New Jersey.

But the Garden State's gender wage gap remains pervasive. Earlier this year, a report from Business.org found that women in New Jersey net an average annual salary of $57,423 while men receive an average salary of $71,604. That means a woman earns 80 cents for every dollar a man makes, according to the data.

The types of jobs women and men hold and the earnings differences among those occupations also contribute to gaps in overall earnings, according to the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. The largest male jobs in New Jersey were software developers (median salary of $110,323) and truck drivers ($50,089), according to Census data. The largest female occupations were managers ($83,978), registered nurses ($82,219) and secretaries ($48,662).

Read MoneyGeek's full report.